


Healing the World, Just a Little

by StardustAndAsh



Category: Horizon: Zero Dawn (Video Game)
Genre: Fake Science, Finding Family, Found Family, Gen, Inspired by Fanfic, Post-Canon, elizabet sobeck lives?, or rather
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-03-08
Updated: 2019-01-05
Packaged: 2019-03-28 17:42:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 13,239
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13909008
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/StardustAndAsh/pseuds/StardustAndAsh
Summary: After the Battle of Meridian, Aloy feels her next task is to rebuild GAIA and fix the Derangement. Finding Elizabet Sobeck was not supposed to be something in the realm of possibilities, but if Aloy is good at anything its rolling with the punches.Heavily inspired by Writerly's Second Dawn





	1. Rebooting...

Grey dawn light filtered over the top of the mountain pass and brought with it a harsh gust of cold wind. No birdsong came with it, nor the whirring and clicking of a machine. Aloy watched the sun rise from her makeshift bed inside Sylens’ old workshop. She didn’t often stay there, something about knowing Sylens had used it at a makeshift home made her uncomfortable. As if she was trespassing and being watched all at the same time. She had arrived after nightfall at GAIA Prime and did not fancy making the long climb down into the rusted heart of the ruins in the dark.

It had been several months since defeating HADES at the Spire. Several months full of trying to figure out how to get GAIA back online, researching APOLLO, all while trying to navigate being the most known figure among all the tribes. Before the battle of Meridian Aloy had been the girl who rode machines. Now she was something else, and she was sure she did not like it. People bowed to her as she passed, even on the roads between settlements. They asked her for blessings, not for help with machines or bandits, as if she was above that now. She almost sympathized with Nil. Almost.

So she had kept mostly to herself, digging through the ruins of the Old Ones for clues. Here and there Aloy found an intact datapoint or a fragment of symbols her focus pinged as important. The Cauldrons had been invaluable as Aloy looked for how to repair GAIA. They were designed to build and repair after all.

As the sun rose to paint the sky with pinks and orange Aloy gathered herself out of her nest of furs and packed away the rest of her supplies. It was time to start the long climb down to the core. The first part of the trek was familiar as her hands and feet fount solid ledges to support her descent. The harder part was getting down to the very bottom. She had discovered the location by picking apart the information left in the Cradle under All-Mother Mountain. The core was on the lowest level of the facility. And it was also probably the smoking remnants of one of the greatest creations in the world. But had the very high possibility of failure ever stopped Aloy before? Nope. Aloy uncurled the rope of her rappelling gear as she hooked the spiked metal grip into a likely looking stone crevasse. Not as good as a Y-shaped branch, but it would also provide a way back out until Aloy found another way down.

The bottom of the crater was quiet. Aloy couldn’t hear the sound of the winds above or the creaking of metal. Unsettling to say the least. She cautiously activated her focus and looked through it into her surroundings. A door lit up, thankfully unlocked, and an old datapoint.

 

**Sobeck Journal, 1-17-66:**

_This is the last time I’ll write in this. A grim thought, but what about the last few months hasn’t been grim?_

_One of the doors didn’t seal properly. A big damn oversight on someone’s part but blame is not going to solve the problem. If we’re going to give ZD a chance someone has to go out there and fix this mess. I left the other Alphas fighting about it in the lab. They’re scared. I get it. I was scared once too. But ever since we committed to ZD, and the total annihilation of life on Earth I’ve been less afraid. We’re all going to die sometime, I may as well die now than waiting for it in a bunker for the next forty years. With my luck I’d outlive everyone here anyway. I’ll let the others know my choice when I get outside. I know if I was still inside I might be tempted to stop by their voices. No. Better to go now. GAIA can function on her own so my part in the project is over. My work here is done, to borrow an ancient phrase._

_I can’t believe it’s all going to end here. When I was young I always thought that one day I’d go back to the ranch, grow old surrounded by fields of farmland and grandkids. That I would die peacefully when I was old and grey and leave behind some great discovery that would bore kids in school textbooks for years to come. Now I believe that I’m going to be in a school textbook, but probably not quite in the same way I imagined before the world went to shit. Especially with Samina in charge of APOLLO._

_I know I’m taking the easy way out. Sacrificing myself so that ZD can be completed or dying so I don’t have to see the end of the world. I’m not sure which is correct. There is something I’d like to try to do before the suit runs out of power and the atmosphere gets me. If it’s still somehow standing, I would like to go home. Its not too far from here. A few days walk perhaps._

_I wonder if the swarm or the atmosphere will get me first._

_Ugh, still morbid._

_Goodbye._

 

Aloy felt her eyes sting. She had seen the recording of Sobeck locking herself out of GAIA Prime months ago, but this last letter sounded defeated. It was so unlike the Elisabet Sobeck she had become familiar with; determined, strong, confident. She saved it to her focus and willed away her tears. It was no use crying over someone hundreds of years dead.

With a flick of her wrist she opened the door. Aloy was met by the dim glow of purplish light that trailed down the hall before veering right around a bend. As she passed through the door she noted that it was thicker than any other she had passed through in ruins previously. Aloy guessed it was built to withstand things like GAIA cracking open the mountain. There were no offshoot rooms like there were in many of the ruins of the Old Ones, just the path with its dim lights leading her deeper into the mountain.

At long last the hall came to an end in a small room, barely big enough for the holo interface in the middle of it. At first glance Aloy couldn’t tell what to do. She’d come so far, but nothing looked like what she had seen in the Cauldrons. The walls were smooth metal panels rather than the wires and tubes she was hoping to see.

Had all Aloy’s efforts come to this? A half saved world? Stopped not by a machine but by her lack of knowledge. After all, what was she but a badly-made copy of Elisabet Sobeck. Aloy was sure that if GAIA had created her as a one hundred percent copy she would somehow know what to do. If only she were better, smarter, somehow more. Then maybe it would be enough. With a growl she lashed out at the wall next to her. Pain blossomed through her knuckles into her wrist, but that wasn’t what dragged Aloy out of her head. It was the sound her hand had made against the metal. A hollow ring that echoed once through the small room. Aloy rapped on the wall again in the same place. Still hollow.

Frowning, Aloy grabbed her spear and shoved its point into the thin seam of the metal panel. It slid in only a few inches, but enough for her to get some leverage. She threw her weight against the other end of the spear and pushed. Her boots slid over the smooth floor as she pushed against the spear, but with a loud, screeching groan, the panel came loose and clattered to the floor.

Aloy jumped back as the metal hit the ground at her feet, then stared at the opening it left behind. There were her wires, twisting and snaking their way behind the walls like veins beneath skin and disappearing into the darkness.

 Hope sparked in her chest. There were wires, she could do this.

Aloy activated her focus and began pulling her repair supplies out of her bag. With the metal panel out of the way her focus lit on sections of wire, suggesting a method of repair for each section. Carefully, Aloy examined each of the parts now spread out around her and with gentle hands placed them into the wire system. Sometimes throughout the repairs she found herself half in the wall with nothing to see by but her focus. Others she would be trying to fit in the smallest screw by touch alone. With the work her mind quieted once more, shoving all feelings of inadequacy away in face of something she could do and fix with her own two hands.

Finally, Aloy was left with just one last part. It was thin and cylindrical with nothing outwardly revealing it to be important. Carefully, she held it in place while hooking up wires to each end. As she went to connect the last wire, her grip slipped, and the wire poked her hand instead.

It was not unlike being on the receiving end of a shell-walker’s shock blast.

Aloy jerked. Her shoulder banged against the edge of the panel as her feet skittered out from under her. With an ungraceful wheeze Aloy found herself flat on her back with the wind knocked out of her, hand still twitching.

“Ok that was a bit of a shock,” grumbled Aloy before she smirked at the unintentional pun.

It took a few long moments of gripping onto her arm for the spasms to stop shaking through her hand. Shocks were so painful yet Aloy never remembered just how much until a machine got the best of her, or, in this case, a wire no bigger than her little finger. Once her fingers stopped trembling Aloy reached once more into the dark depths of the wires. First she had to find the one that was already attached to the metal cylinder and reel it in like a fish. Then came attaching the other wire, this time with far more caution than before. Once it was attached and placed back in the mess of GAIA’s innards, Aloy took a step back and watched the holo interface with baited breath.

She waited one minute. Then two. Then ten.

Aloy sighed. Maybe GAIA wasn’t fixable. HADES was gone but so was their way of reversing the derangement.

It took her far longer than it should have to notice the blinking light by the holo interface.

Aloy approached it quickly. It was just a little smidge of light but it was something. With her focus she could see the letters flashing in time with the light.

_Rebooting…_


	2. GAIA

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A great big thank you to everyone who read the first chapter! Thank you so much for the support.

Distant humming slowly rumbled to life as the interface flashed the same word over and over. Aloy waited, wary of the way the whole structure seemed to shake as GAIA came back to life. Lights overhead sputtered on in a brilliant white light that had Aloy squinting after spending so long with just the dim purple lights to guide her. Once her eyes adjusted to the artificial brightness Aloy looked down at the interface. No longer was it blasting the same word over and over; now it held a solid green light.

Aloy gently pressed her palm against it, hoping that all the light and the low hum meant whatever she did worked, and that GAIA had begun to repair itself. At her touch the holo interface began projecting its image. Floating above was a woman. If GAIA could be called a woman. Dark eyes regarded Aloy calmly.

“Uh, hello,” said Aloy nervously. Had it worked in truth or just enough to get GAIA back from the dead.

“You are and are not Elisabet Sobeck,” said Gaia.

“I’m Aloy. You created me.”

“So the Lightkeeper Protocol was successful. This is excellent. I see you have managed to repair me to some extent.”

Aloy shrugged and took a deep breath. GAIA was a computer, she would not understand how much hearing that she was a replacement would upset Aloy.

“Are you back to functioning? Can you stop the Derangement?” asked Aloy.

“Query: What is the Derangement?” asked Gaia, tilting her head to the side in a semblance of curiosity.

Aloy was dumbfounded for a moment. The Derangement had only started nineteen years ago, yet it affected all the clans to the point where there was no one who did not know about it.

“When you destroyed yourself and relinquished control over your sub-functions, the machines became more hostile. The clans call the change the Derangement. Every year without you it got worse. They kill humans on sight.”

GAIA frowned down at Aloy and let the silence grow. She did another sweep of Aloy with her eyes, taking in every bruise, cut, and scar.

“Now that you’re back, can you stop the Derangement?” asks Aloy once she can’t stand the scrutiny.

There’s another pause as GAIA thinks, or at least her projection looks like its thinking. “I am no longer attuned to my sub-functions. I will need to make repairs here before finding my sub-functions and reintegrating them into my operating system. I am sorry Aloy, it will take some time.”

Aloy nods. Not what she wanted to hear, but understandable nonetheless.

“What do I have to do?” asks Aloy. There had to be a next step, something else she could do.

“There is nothing that a human has to do. There is choice in all action, as Elisabet told me once. I would be grateful for help, if you choose to give it. You have already done much for me in bringing me back online.”

“Of course I’ll help. It’s not like I have any better options waiting for me out there,” replied Aloy.

GAIA nodded. She waved one hand in a lazy circle towards Aloy. At the same time there was a small clicking chirp from Aloy’s focus.

“I have opened a line of communication between myself and your focus. I will require time to finish rebooting and starting on repairs here, and this will allow me to contact you when I feel like I am ready to start hunting down my sub-functions. I am also curious to witness this Derangement in full through the focus.”

“Oh there will be plenty of opportunity for that.”

GAIA smiled down at her before disappearing from the holo interface. Slowly, Aloy began gathering what few things remained out in the room and getting ready to make the long climb back out of the crater. As she gathered herself to leave, she remembered the holo outside the door.

“GAIA?”

Her focus activated itself and she could hear GAIA’s voice in her ear. Startled, Aloy whipped her head around to stare at the holo interface. No GAIA projection. She was truly connected with the focus.

“I am here,” said GAIA.

“I saw Elisabet’s last entry, and I was wondering, do you know where she is?”

“I do. Elisabet Sobeck is at the Sobeck ranch outside Carson City to the west. I can direct you through the focus if you wish.”

“Sounds good to me,” said Aloy, walking out the door.

When she got to the open air Aloy was not surprised to see the snow drifting down through the ruins. Aloy gave her now-frosted rope a few hard tugs and felt no give from the anchor. Sure she could have looked for another way up, but Aloy did not feel like dealing with icy handholds on an unknown climb. Hand over hand, Aloy began her slow ascent. Every muscle in her shoulders was screaming before she had made it even half way, and the snow was now falling quickly in thick fluffy flakes, making it hard to see the twisted rock and metal around her. If a blizzard was tearing through Aloy would have to camp out in Sylens’ workshop once more. But better to spend a few days huddled up there rather than getting lost and falling off the edge of the mountain.

After what felt like hours Aloy finally felt something other than rough rope beneath her chapped fingers. The rock above was dusted in a layer of snow a few inches thick. Clearing a patch with one arm Aloy then hauled herself up onto the ledge. Above, barely visible in the snow, glimmered lights from the workshop. They taunted her with the promise of refuge as she hauled up the long line of rope and neatly coiled it.

From here the rest of the trip up was treacherous. Her route was frozen over with the handholds thick with ice and snow. Once or twice her hands slipped from their hold, sending Aloy jerking down a few feet until she could dig her fingers into crevasses and stop her descent. If she thought her shoulders hurt before it was nothing compared to how it felt now. By the time she crawled over the last ledge outside the workshop her upper body was burning with exertion and the sky was growing dark. It almost felt like too much effort to roll out her bedding and strip off her boots and outer layers. Once her head hit the pillow it was only too easy to slip away into dreams.

The next day dawned nearly as dark as the night it left behind. The blizzard was blowing fierce and strong, leaving Aloy no choice but to spend the day shut up in the eerie workshop. At least now she had GAIA to chat with through her focus. She spent hours trying to question her about what the world was like before. She got some answers about plants and animals that roamed in different places around the earth but none about the history of humanity. Whatever knowledge GAIA may have had about that was lost when Ted Faro wiped APOLLO. Instead all she had to offer was stories about a world burning to death, ravaged by machines that consumed every living thing in their path down to the very last blade of grass. About people dying in fear, trying desperately to hide from the swarm.

It was horrifying.

After a while of stomach-turning imagery Aloy told GAIA to stop and took off her focus. She settled on spending the rest of her day caring for her bow and spear and trying not to let her mind linger on the world of the Old Ones.

When the next morning broke clear and bright Aloy was quick to pack and leave the workshop, making a speedy descent down the mountain. The fresh snow had buried the paths, but Aloy knew the way without the trail markers guiding her. In a few weeks all the mountain passes would be snowed shut for winter. The Banuk would still travel, and if Aloy was smart about it she could follow their paths through the deep snows once the rest of the clans settled in for the dark months.

Even in Carja territory Aloy could feel the chill touch of winter. A cold wind blew down from the north and the sun barely had time to warm the sands before slipping down over the western horizon. Here Aloy hunted for a ride. The distance to the Sobeck ranch was far, and Aloy was not keen on taking forever on foot to get there. Instead, she tracked a strider on the edge of a herd to override and carry her.

As soon as she was on the machine her focus clicked to life and GAIA spoke in her ear.

“Query: how does one tell if a machine is Deranged?”

“They want to kill you more than normal.”

“Query: is there no other method of determining a Deranged machine than viciousness?”

Underneath Aloy the Strider quickened its pace as Aloy squeezed with her calves. Soon she was bouncing along as the Strider jogged through the sparse grasses and sands.

“No, all machines are Deranged. But when HADES was attacking there were corrupted machines, and those had tubes of red liquid wreathed around their bodies.”

“I see. Thank you for your information.”

GAIA closed the focus and let Aloy ride in silence. The landscape passed by with the Strider’s quick, tireless jog. She watched as Carja villages rolled by to the south. Though the desert of the Sundom was empty it never felt desolate. The towering stone arches and the warm reds and oranges in the sand made sure of that. If the Carja didn’t worship the sun perhaps they would the strange stone giants that watched their lands in unwavering silence. Her path took her a bit to the south into the jungles surrounding Meridian. Here it grew a bit warmer, enough to take the chill out of the air. In the distance beyond the trees Aloy could see the tall towers of Meridian reaching into the sky.

Soon after passing Meridian and the tall shadow of the Spire the sun began to roll down the hill and set in a firey display in front of her. Soon Aloy was riding by the light of the moon, guiding her Strider around the blue glow of machine lights. For a while she dozed, just awake enough to hear an approaching machine.

The next day Aloy slept for a few hours in a small cave hidden by thick foliage before hopping back up on the Strider. As the day wore on the world around her grew less and less familiar. Aloy hadn’t seen any signs of a trail in hours. She hadn’t seen any signs of civilization either. There were no carved climbing paths up the rock walls around her nor any markers or evidence of campfires. Silence reigned over her travel. Even her mount’s footfalls seemed muted in the deep leafy covering over the ground. The sounds of birds in the trees were fleeting and brief.

Aloy wouldn’t admit it made her nervous out loud yet she couldn’t help the chills running up and down her spine. Less than a year ago she had never been outside of the Embrace. Now she was wandering into lands no one from the Sacred Lands or the Sundom had set foot in.

“GAIA?” Aloy activated her focus.

“Yes,” she answered in her calm voice.

“Do you know anything about these lands?”

“I know little beyond that the organisms that live here are thriving,” said GAIA. “Query: does being outside the areas populated by the clans bother you?”

Aloy shrugged, then realized the AI wouldn’t be able to see it.

“I’m not bothered. It’s just strange not seeing any trails or markers,” said Aloy.

“Your heart rate is mildly elevated. Query: would listening to a recording ease your mind?”

Whatever GAIA had in mind was better than listening to unfamiliar trees rustling whispers overhead.

“It wouldn’t hurt. Just not loud enough to drown out any machines.”

Aloy settled into a more comfortable position, leaning back against the slight warmth of its blaze canister as the Strider kept a swaying walk going. With GAIA playing old conversations in her ear it was a lot easier to relax in the strange unknown she travelled through.

 

**GAIA Log: 17 Apr 2065**

**Elisabet Sobeck:** “GAIA, I just had a thought and maybe you could help ease my mind.”

 **GAIA:** “Query: How may I be of assistance?”

 **Elisabet Sobeck:** “It just occurred to me that you are going to get to rebuild the world from the ground up. You could make any changes you wanted. Make Death Valley a rainforest if you wanted, or Antarctica. Do you think you will make any changes to the map when you start up life on Earth?”

 **GAIA:** “Query: Are there any areas you wish to change?”

 **Elisabet Sobeck:** “Hmm… I’m rather attached to the world as it was. Call me sentimental.”

 **GAIA:** “It is sentiment that led to my creation.”

 **Elisabet Sobeck:** “Bleeding hearts will save the world and all that. Still, I do wonder what it’ll all look like a hundred years from now.”

 **GAIA:** “You have programmed me to recreate the world. I will do so to the best of my capabilities. There will be very little to change about the Earth’s ideal biome locations. If you were able to live long enough to see the reconstructed world I believe you would be able to recognize it.”

 **Elisabet Sobeck:** “Would I? It seems like we’ve been trapped in the apocalypse forever at this point. You know for a while I actually forgot the sea was once full of life?”

 **GAIA:** “When ARTEMIS completes its designated function there will be organisms in the ocean that have been extinct since you were a child.”

 **Elisabet Sobeck:** “I hope we can do it GAIA.”

 **GAIA:** “With you I know we can.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OOP second chapter down! I'm already working on the third don't y'all worry. It may not be posted for a couple weeks due to real life getting pretty hectic with school and moving, but I will try to keep on top of things!
> 
> If you ever want to scream about HZD come hit me up on twitter (@Stardustandash), tumblr (stardustandash.tumblr.com) or instagram (@stardustandash)


	3. The Last Sunset

Even with GAIA’s help it still took several days to find a path through the mountains and around lakes. Aloy ended up following a cracked black road of the Old Ones that wound in random bends and turns through trees and travelled in flat straight lines that seemed to stretch straight to the setting sun. Throughout it all as GAIA fixed herself she sent newly discovered recordings of her conversations with Elisabet Sobeck. Some of them included the rest of the Alphas.

There was one that had been a birthday party. At first Aloy was confused. It seemed to be a special day for Elisabet Sobeck, with gifts and cake and other things Aloy had never heard of. It was not as though she wasn’t deserving of a party in her honour, like the one Avad had thrown for Aloy after the Battle of Meridian. Then one of the others had mentioned age and it all made sense. The Old Ones apparently celebrated the day they were born. Every year. With food and gifts.

It was not exactly unlike the Nora to celebrate the day of one’s birth, but typically it was just a small token of gratitude given to one’s mother to mark another year of being thankful for your existence.

The Old Ones certainly had strange traditions.

Most of the recordings were simple updates on GAIA’s progress, or one of her many sub-functions. Just small off-hand comments or quips that showed Elisabet the scientist not Elisabet the leader or Elisabet the fighter as many of the holos she had found around the world did. It was nice, in a way, to hear the quiet moments. They helped solidify that Elisabet was a person like anyone. Like Aloy.

The lands that Aloy passed through were not densely populated by machines. Neither did she see much, if any, signs of people passing through. She supposed she was not the first to travel the roads of the Old Ones, but not many people travelled west of the borders of the Sundom. There were not very many ruins here either. A twisted metal tower here, a half-buried Deathbringer or Corrupter there.

Aloy wondered what it was like when Elisabet Sobeck made the trek from GAIA Prime across this expanse. Was the sky still blue? Were there Faro machines crawling across the land in herds? It definitely was not as peaceful a journey as Aloy was experiencing. Every day Aloy got closer to the glowing dot GAIA provided on her focus to show where Elisabet Sobeck, or at least her focus, was. With every step of her Strider the slow crawl of their travel itched at Aloy even more. For the first time since she was small she felt frustration at not being able to travel quickly across the landscape. Even the small recordings GAIA played in her ear were not enough to distract her from the fact that she was so close, but getting there so slowly.

When Aloy finally stumbled into the edge of the ruins it was like waking up from a long sleep. Once more she was invigorated and eager, sitting up on the Strider and looking around at the twisted metal and collapsed stone of the buildings. This was it. This was where she would find Elisabet Sobeck, or whatever was left of her. It seemed impossible, but Aloy still clung to the hope that perhaps she would meet her instead of simply finding her body. She had so many questions, so many things to say. 

“Aloy, I have found another recording between myself and Elisabet Sobeck. Query: would you like me to play it?”

“How close am I to her?”

“Far enough that the recording will be over before you reach the remains of Elisabet Sobeck.”

Aloy nodded, still unused to having to respond verbally to GAIA every time, before saying yes.

 

 

[ **Elisabet Sobeck**](http://horizonzerodawn.wikia.com/wiki/Elisabet_Sobeck) **:**  “Ok, GAIA. Sorry about that. Where was I?”

 

[ **GAIA**](http://horizonzerodawn.wikia.com/wiki/GAIA) **:**  “You were telling a story.”

 

 **Elisabet Sobeck:**  “Right. Yeah... so, like I was saying, it was a children's electronic kit, but I'd hacked the wiring to an auto battery and solar PV, so the grass caught fire. And so did a tall pine that'd stood there, I don't know, maybe a hundred years.”

 

 **GAIA:**  “Query: You were how old?”

 

 **Elisabet Sobeck:**  “Six. My mother was home, thank god, so she called the fire department and after, she took me out on the lawn and showed me the dead baby birds. Because there were nests in the pine tree.”

 

 **GAIA:**  “Query: What did you feel?”

 

 **Elisabet Sobeck:**  “I'm not sure. I remember yelling that I didn't care. And that's when my mother took my face in her hands and... spoke.”

 

 **GAIA:**  “Query: What did she say?”

 

 **Elisabet Sobeck:**  “She said I had to care. She said, "Elisabet, being smart will count for nothing if you don't make the world better. You have to use your smarts to count for something, to serve life, not death."”

 

 **GAIA:**  “You often tell stories of your mother. But you are childless.”

 

 **Elisabet Sobeck:**  “I never had time. I guess it was for the best.”

 

 **GAIA:**  “If you had had a child, Elisabet, what would you have wished for him or her?”

 

 **Elisabet Sobeck:**  “I guess... I would have wanted her to be... curious. And willful - unstoppable, even... but with enough compassion to... heal the world... just a little bit.”

 

 **Elisabet Sobeck:**  “Anyway, that's all I've got for now, GAIA. Time to tuck in.”

 

 **GAIA:**  “I wish you a pleasant sleep, Elisabet.”

 

 **Elisabet Sobeck:**  “Thank you. I'll catch you tomorrow.”

 

 

 

As the recording played Aloy wandered down the empty paths between clusters of old, broken buildings to a road that lead down past crumbled ruins that were father apart with more and more foliage filling in the gaps. In the distance she could see flashes of sunlight on water before taking a right and heading closer to the blinking dot on her focus display.

It came as little surprise that when Aloy touched her cheek it was damp with tears. She scrubbed at her eyes with the heels of her palms and took several deep breaths. She had barely had a chance to rein in her emotions before passing under a large archway with the remnants of a swinging sign dangling from it. Painted on it under layers of dirt and grime Aloy could make out the words: …eck Ranch. She had found it.

Aloy slipped from the Strider’s back, knees protesting after sitting in one position for so long. She let the machine turn to the foliage without giving it a second thought. This was it, Elisabet Sobeck’s home. In a way Aloy felt as if she was coming home herself. If she was made to be like Elisabet in every way, that meant in some small way she also came from here.

It took only a few seconds for Aloy to spot the seated figure. With slow steps Aloy walked around to the front of the figure. It was slumped back against a sort of bench, face tilted up towards the sky like they were watching a sunset, or stars overhead.

“GAIA, is this her?” asked Aloy as she approached and knelt and in front of the figure.

“Affirmative, this is the body of Elisabet Sobeck.”

Using her focus, GAIA projected Elisabet’s face over the helm on her body and illuminated the script reading ‘Sobeck’ on her chest. It was her. Aloy felt something inside her break. One hand reached out to cradle the cheek of the figure as she let herself cry without abandon. Her whole journey she had been searching for her mother, then her creator, and now that she had found her and she was hundreds of years too late.

“Aloy, do not weep. Elisabet Sobeck was satisfied by the circumstances of her death and accepted it. It might be insensitive of me to say so, but It does no good to mourn for someone who has been dead for centuries.”

“She might have been gone for centuries, but I have met her, known her, and now mourned her in less than a year.”

“That is true. It seems I have much to learn about human emotion from you Aloy. Elisabet Sobeck and the other members of the Alpha team had different emotional responses to death due to the global crisis.”

Aloy reached out and held Elisabets hand, running her nimble fingers through her frozen grasp. It was something Aloy had always wanted to do, walk hand in hand with her mother through the paths of Mother’s Heart and show them all wrong. It seemed to Aloy that all her childhood dreams were coming true as living nightmares.

“Query: Aloy, would you be comfortable retrieving Elisabet’s focus?” GAIA’s mechanical voice sounded hesitant.

“Why?”

“It may contain invaluable information on completing my restoration and that of my sub-functions.”

“Fine,” Aloy growled into her focus. It felt rude to disturb Elisabet, and she was starting to suspect that GAIA had only given her the directions to what remained of Elisabet’s home in order to gain access to the focus she left behind.

While Aloy had done many stomach turning things –killed many people, gutted many animals- she found her hands trembling as she reached for the edge of the helm. The edge of the cold material dug into her fingertips as she searched for the release. Like when she opened the door to the Alphas’ tomb at GAIA Prime There was a rush of air past her fingers to fill the vacuum she had opened. Slowly, Aloy drew off the helm and revealed what was left of Elisabet Sobeck.

It made her want to vomit. 

There was still skin on Elisabet’s body, dried and stretched over her bones. Grey and twisted. A wraith in place of endless strength. There were still wisps of hair, red as Aloy’s own, tumbling across the hollows of Elisabet’s face, falling in the pits where her hazel eyes once rested. The jaw had come loose and hung down, as if to scream at Aloy for disturbing her.

With a shaking hand Aloy reached out to grab the focus from where it rested, sunken into the grey skin of Elisabet’s ear. The lightest brush of her finger was enough to tear that skin and send both the remnants of the ear and the focus tumbling into the long grass at her knees. Aloy did her best to separate the ear from the focus before stuffing it into her bag. Every brush off her fingertip over the papery skin was enough to send her stomach rolling.

“Thank you Aloy. It is sad to see what our creator has become. If it is not too much, I would propose burying her body. Or burning it. I am unsure of your funeral customs,” said GAIA once the focus was safely stowed and Aloy had stood once more.

“The Nora bury their dead at the base of All-Mother Mountain. But Elisabet Sobeck was not Nora,” said Aloy. “This was her home, she should return to the earth here.”

It took several hours to dig a hole deep enough. Aloy chose a spot near an ancient stump that had become nutrients for several small saplings. It seemed fitting for the woman who gave the world back its life. By the end her nails were broken and bloody and covered in dirt. As she dug the sun wheeled overhead and began its descent towards the horizon. When Aloy finished her hole the first colours of the sunset were beginning to spread across the sky.

It was no trouble to carry Elisabet’s remains and set them in the hole. Time had wasted away her body, and Aloy was strong. When the last handful of dirt had been thrown onto the grave the sun gave its final farewell and slipped below the horizon with the glory of a fiery sky to send it off. The last sunset for Elisabet Sobeck. Tomorrow, for the first time in nearly a thousand years, Elisabet would not be there to greet the dawn.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, I wrote 1500 of these words today. I had little chance of working on this the last few weeks as I was working on set and then moved immediately after wrapping that show. 
> 
> Sorry that this was a relatively slow chapter. And yep, Aloy buried Elizabet, but don't you worry her role in this story is FAR from over.
> 
> Thank you to everyone for the show of support in comments and kudos and hits!! Y'all are amazing and it really does make my day to see you out there interacting with this story. You guys are my biggest inspiration.


	4. Spire at Sunset

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry this took so long and it wasn't even a longer chapter. There has been a lot going on the last month... today was the first time I found time to sit down and turn on my TV since posting the last chapter. To celebrate i beat the frozen wilds dlc (finally) and then wrote most of the unedited words that lie in wait for you.
> 
> Big thank you to everyone who's left comments and kudos while this fic sat dormant.

The trip back to the Sundom felt far shorter than the trip out. The whole way back Elisabet’s focus weighed heavily in Aloy’s bag, dragging her thoughts back to it no matter how hard she tried to think of other things. In her dreams the skeletal face of Elisabet Sobeck stared at her with disappointment in those hollow eyes. By the time she came upon the jungles and familiar landmarks of the Sundom there were dark circles under Aloy’s eyes and a tiredness in her steps.

The Spire stood high in the distance, beckoning Aloy closer to familiarity. It seemed brighter under the cold winter sun. Aloy used it as a landmark to guide her back to civilization. Though GAIA still looked through her focus and talked with her as she travelled back, but the road back was much quieter than the road out. Aloy would say the machine was grieving as well, if GAIA could grieve. Aloy wasn’t entirely sure what Elisabet could have built GAIA to do and feel and think and what GAIA herself could actually feel on her own.

Nonetheless the trip back was sombre. It felt akin to those long first days outside of the Embrace after Rost’s death. Then, she had the goal of chasing his killers. Now, she felt directionless. Her goal of finding Elisabet had been achieved. There was nothing left for her to do now, no drive, no threat to be vanquished nor secrets to be uncovered.

“Aloy, I would request that you bring Elisabet Sobeck’s focus to Minerva, or the place you call the Spire,” said GAIA as they wandered out of the jungle into the lowlands around Meridian.

“What for?”

“As my primary location is still being recovered the Minerva facility would be the next logical place to harvest the data contained within the focus. If that is unacceptable I can think of another location.”

Aloy sighed. There went any hope of a bath in Meridian to wash away the road grime that clung to her.

“Nope, Spire sounds fine.”

“Thank you.”

She left her Strider at the edge of the jungle among the trees. It still scared people to see her openly riding a machine. From there she changed her course and walked through the valley towards the Spire. Even now, months after the battle, the land was scarred by long furrows and the silent, twisted corpses of the Faro machines. She could see where the land was taking back the metal once more. Here and there vines inched up along the smooth legs and across the bodies. A flower ringed the eyestalk of a fallen watcher that stared up at her mournfully as she passed. Not many people came through here anymore. Too many memories locked up in one place. Too many demons, even if they were dead.

The stone steps up to the Spire had yet to be fixed. Aloy didn’t know why she had expected them to be. Instead she made the first part of the climb past broken steps and fallen rock until she rounded the first corner and found the steps ahead simply gone. Aloy had very little memory of the frantic climb to the Spire and the exhaustion-filled descent and the extent of the damage. Not that she wasn’t adept at climbing. It was a bit of a surprise to find that Avad hadn’t rebuilt the path to one of the Sundom’s greatest landmarks.

It was more surprising to find that she wasn’t alone at the base of the Spire.

Sitting on one of the boulders and looking out over the jungle away from Aloy was Erend. His Vanguard armour was piled at the base of the rock as he looked out over the trees, the breeze ruffling through his hair. Aloy took a few more steps, louder this time to not startle Erend into falling.

“Long way from Meridian,” said Aloy as she drew up beside him.

“Long way from the Embrace,” said Erend without looking away from the view.

For a moment the two of them shared a silence filled with the longing for a home that would never be whole. At least not for them. Eventually Erend gave in and with a sigh turned to Aloy.

“Was starting to think you didn’t like me anymore, I haven’t seen you in weeks,” said Erend. He took the time to take her all in. Aloy wasn’t sure what he saw, but the corners of his usual grin sink downwards.

“I’ve been busy. The battle may be over but there’s still a lot to learn and fix before the world is perfect.”

“But who’s definition of perfect are we going with? Avad’s? Your Matriarchs? Mine? You’re never going to be able to please everyone. World’s a much happier place when you figure out how to take your satisfaction from it and enjoy the simple things, like good food and an even better drink.”

Aloy shook her head. Erend was all about putting on that mask. The one he showed his men; the captain who drank and laughed and offered easy camaraderie. Aloy was never one to make friends easily and carelessly, and Erend usually met her on her level.

“Have you had a funeral for Ersa yet? Or are you ignoring that too?” asked Aloy.

For a second she thought Erend might hit her. His shoulders tensed, then slumped.

“I guess we’ve both had things to take care of. Avad arranged it so Ersa was buried in one of the royal tombs. I guess he thought it was his duty. Or some last love for her. There was a whole procession and funeral feast, a whole day and night where the city mourned her. She would have hated it.”

“I’m sure, but she was a great woman, she deserves to be remembered,” offered Aloy.

“She will be. ‘Even if I’m the only one who speaks her name, the sun won’t forget her while I walk in its light,’ is what Avad said to me, and I won’t let him speak her name alone.”

Aloy nodded, unsure of what to say to that. She was starting to suspect that Erend might have been out at the Spire to find a moment’s peace and let the Captain of the Vanguard mask down for a little while. From the moment she approached it seemed like she was invading something private.

“I need to climb the Spire. I’ll see you in Meridian?” asked Aloy, as she turned to leave.

“I think I need to ask if I will see you. Nobody has seen you in weeks, Aloy, not even our envoys to the Embrace. You show up here looking like a ghost, and quiet as one too. To be frank, you don’t look well,” said Erend, raising his hands when Aloy began to splutter out protests. “You don’t have to tell me now. Just promise you’ll stop by Meridian for a few days? Get some food and rest.”

“Only because you’ll cry if I don’t,” said Aloy. After all, she had been heading there in the first place. Now though, there was a seed of apprehension in her gut at the thought.

She turned away from Erend and began to pull herself up the rock face towards the rest of the path. His eyes burned holes in her back as she went but Aloy didn’t let herself look back until she had disappeared down the path and well out of Erend’s sight. The rest of the path was a similar mix of stairs and scramble until Aloy reached the dead metal that had contained HADES until she had overridden it.

GAIA clicked to life in her ear and used the focus to scan its remains. Whatever conclusion she came to she kept it to herself. While GAIA did her scans Aloy looked around for an entrance to the Spire itself, or at least somewhere she could put Elisabet’s focus. Nothing immediately revealed itself to her, and her focus was being commandeered for other things. Eventually, Aloy gave up.

“GAIA, where does the focus need to go?”

“The entrance to the Minerva sub function should be nearby, though it is below us. I can calculate an alternate entrance as I have seen no sign of the heavy machinery it would require to get to the true entrance.”

Overhead the sun began its descent, creating a sea of misty orange light over the jungle below. Behind the spire Meridian glowed like fire in the light. Aloy had time to take in the magic of the moment while GAIA decided on their course of action. In the valley she could see the small figure of Erend making his way back to the city. The Spire itself glittered in the light of the setting sun. It was easy to see why the Carja flocked to it and marvelled at its presence. It seemed to touch the sky, and once a day it looked as if the Spire was bridging the gap between the earth and the sun.

“I believe I have found a way inside. Query: are you claustrophobic?” asked GAIA long after the sun began to kiss the horizon.

“Am I what?”

“Query: Are you afraid of small, tight spaces?”

“Wouldn’t have gotten this far if I was,” said Aloy.

“Excellent. I have found a way into the Minerva facility. There is a small opening on the other side of the tower that is the remains of a ventilation system. I have calculated and you would be able to crawl through the system to reach the remains of the facility.”

“I guess there’s no time like the present,” said Aloy, following GAIA’s directions to the other side of the Spire.

The other Side of the Spire turned out to be out and over the cliff. The foot and hand holds were small and narrow and hard to see in the growing darkness. The entrance itself was about twenty feet below Aloy’s position according to GAIA’s directions.

“If you are unsure about continuing in the dark you could make camp and we could try again in the morning,” said GAIA gently when Aloy hesitated.

“I’m already here, why stop now?” Aloy said with a smirk, confidence coming back to her.

She grasped at the first handhold and swung herself out onto the cliff face. The rough rock bit into her fingertips but they held strong. Nudging her toes onto a smaller ledge Aloy slowly released her weight onto it until she was sure it would hold her weight. Then she inched her hand along the rock until she came to another solid handhold and repeated the process until she had made her was to the entrance.

It was a bit smaller than Aloy was expecting. It was barely wide enough for her shoulders, and only about two feet tall. It was going to be an uncomfortable wiggle. Aloy pressed herself into the space and used the rough pads of her fingers to drag herself inside and across the cold, smooth metal.

Once inside there was no light to speak of. Her body blocked most of it out. GAIA activated the focus, shedding a faint purple glow over the tunnel, lighting her way by a few feet. Slowly she shuffled along through the ventilation system. She now understood why GAIA asked about tight spaces. It was uncomfortable enough without being scared.

Bruises started forming on her elbows and knees within minutes of entering no matter how careful she tried to be. The trip through the system was long and quiet, aside from some muffled cursing when she hit her funny bone against a corner. Eventually she reached a spot where she could drop out of the system and enter the facility. Getting the grate open was a bit of a challenge, but after a few minutes and some torn nails the grate fell away and Aloy was able to squeeze through the opening.


	5. Hardwire Connection

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not dead. I might feel that way but I am not yet dead. Maybe a little bit in need of inspiration.

The inside of the Spire was cool and dark. Stagnant in a way that the ruins of the Old Ones had never felt before. The air was thick with dust and anticipation. Aloy peered around the darkness using the dim light of her focus to see. Above she could see the walls of the Spire leading up into unending blackness. The grate spit her out in a large circular room. There were relics of the old ones here. Data points glimmered in her focus’ display among metal chairs and tables. Aloy saved their information to her focus to read later. Getting Elisabet’s focus to Minerva’s core was the priority right now.

A doorway led away from the room and down a long series of spiralling metal steps. The dull glow from her focus cast strange shadows around the curves that seemed to stretch and claw their way towards her and pull her down to the metal depths.

The only sounds in the dark were her soft footsteps on the stairs, the quiet clinking of her beads, her own soft breaths. GAIA kept quiet as she descended and Aloy didn’t dare start a conversation.

This was different than the ruins she had been in before. This felt more closed off, like a burial ground not to be disturbed by mortal men. Aloy was an intruder here. Walking in the memory of footsteps hundreds of years old. In the other ruins she had visited it had felt like she was discovering something, learning, understanding the Old Ones in a way the tribes couldn’t even begin to comprehend without a focus. This felt different. Darkness and silence have a way of convincing people they are alone but for spirits.

“We are close to Minerva’s core,” said GAIA.

The unexpected noise made Aloy jump and slip down a couple steps. She caught herself against the wall and managed to keep herself upright and held herself there for a few moments as her heart beat wildly in her ears.

“Don’t do that,” Aloy growled back.

“I am sorry, I did not realize that you would be frightened,” said GAIA.

“I’m not scared,” shot back Aloy. “You surprised me.”

“The core is through the door to the west at the bottom of the stairs.”

Aloy reached up and clicked off her focus. Hopefuly that would dissuade GAIA from surprising her again. She stayed still as she let her eyes adjust to the darkness before walking down the final ten curving steps. As she reached the bottom she could see that it branched in three different directions. The westernmost door somehow seemed the darkest of the three. The most stagnant and foreboding.

Aloy entered with cautious steps. As she walked in lights blinked on along the floor, leading her to a table covered in buttons and screens. As she approached she pulled Elisabet’s focus out of her pack and turned it over in her fingers. The last bit of the woman who saved the world. The last piece of the woman who created Aloy.

“Plug the focus into the computer. There should be a cord nearby,” GAIA said, turning on Aloy’s focus once more.

Aloy looked around, running her fingers through the thick layer of dust in case her fingers caught something her eyes did not. After a few minutes of searching she found a thin cord that had an end that could fit into the focus. With a push that was probably a little too forceful Aloy plugged in the focus and waited. And waited. And waited.

“GAIA, I think something is wrong,” said Aloy quietly.

There was no reply over her focus.

“GAIA?”

No response. Aloy’s heart sped once again. She could hear the blood pounding in her ears as her mind raced over the possibilities. GAIA could be gone again, this time for some unknown reason that Aloy couldn’t fix. Another person who left without the chance to say goodbye.

She almost didn’t notice when the lights came blasting on. The room was suddenly awash in light from bright overhead tubes. This was something Aloy hadn’t seen in a ruin before. Small lights in walls and floors sure, but lights enough to rival the sun? Never.

Aloy blinked owlishly in the light, trying to clear her vision of the spots the bright light had caused. The room was changing. Screens were lighting up. The whirring sound Aloy associated with machines echoed softly all around her. It was as if the light had chased away the ghosts of the Old Ones.

 “I am here, Aloy,” said GAIA, not from her focus, but from a holo on the desk.

“What was that?”

“The Minerva sub-function is now back online and under my control. Bringing Minerva back online required all my attention, I am sorry for ignoring you.”

“You found Minerva?” asked Aloy, looking around as if she could spot the long lost sub-function as she could the little holo of GAIA.

“Nearly. Whatever Hades did to unshackle my sub-functions forced her to retreat far enough that he could not find her. Now that her core is back online and I can begin to access the information in Elisabet’s focus there is hope she will return.”

Aloy glanced at the focus still connected to the computer.

“So Minerva’s still gone. But what about Elisabet’s focus?”

“It will take some time to download all of the information stored on the focus. You may be more comfortable at the nearby human settlement rather than wait here. I can contact you via your focus when I have unlocked Elisabet’s focus and processed the information on it.”

“Fine.”

“If you wish for an easier way out of Minerva, I have located the main entrance and opened it for you. Take the northern door at the base of the stairs and follow the corridor until you reach the large door.”

Aloy shrugged and left the room. Without the darkness the Spire looked even more empty, though less fearsome. Aloy tilted her head up to look at the many curved steps leading up to a dizzying height before stepping through the northern door and walking down the hallway.

The ruin looked less a ruin with the bright warm light. The metal that Aloy always found dark and cold seemed to be more alive in the light. For the first time she could picture living people walking through the halls, not just projections and ghosts.

It didn’t take long to find the big doors that GAIA spoke of. As Aloy approached they rumbled to life, one half lowering itself into the ground, the other rising into the ceiling. On the other side, she could see stone falling away and rolling to the side. Once everything came to a rest Aloy cautiously stepped through into the cool night air only to be met with a handful of fiery torches and some very confused Carja soldiers.

There was some confused muttering among the soldiers before two figures stepped forward away from the crowd. One a taller, lean figure and the other shorter and solidly built. Aloy didn’t have to see their faces to know who was approaching her.

“You doubted my word? I told you I saw her going up to the Spire. Looks like you owe me a drink,” Erend said to the man beside him as they approached. Aloy could hear his grin.

“Aloy, it is good to see you. We had our hopes that this would be your doing, but it doesn’t hurt to be cautious,” said Sun King Avad himself as he approached.

“What would be my doing exactly?” asked Aloy.

“Oh fuck it wasn’t you who lit up the Spire like a second sun?” Erend asked, brows drawing together.

Aloy whirled and looked up past the rock to see a glow coming from the Spire bright enough to shine off Meridian’s distant walls.

“No that was me. In a way,” said Aloy quickly.

“It’s not going to blow up or cause the end of the world or anything? It’s a bit late in the evening for a fight. Or early in the morning. Either way can we save the dramatics for the new sun?” asked Erend, hiding a yawn unsuccessfully.

Aloy felt herself start to yawn as well.

“Definitely not going to blow up,” she said.

“Then let us escort you back to Meridian. There is always room for you at the palace and it would be my honour to host such a hero,” said Avad. There was something in his face that said not to argue, but Aloy couldn’t help an eye roll.

She let Avad and Erend flank her and lead the group of soldiers back towards Meridian. They skirted around a herd of Striders and entered the city with the crescent moon high above them. From Meridian the bright beacon of the Spire could be seen clearly against the black sky. It was a sign of something new. A change on the horizon. The world was slowly becoming the perfect one that Elisabet had imagined and Aloy was determined now more than ever to make it happen.

Avad treated her to a small meal of fresh fruits and spiced nuts before letting her escape to bed. Of course the room he provided was bigger than the hut she had shared with Rost, but a bed was a bed, no matter how many pillows or soft thin sheets were piled on it. Aloy had just enough presence of mind to unlace her boots and slip off her armour before wiggling between the blankets and building herself a nest out of all the tiny tasselled pillows she could find.

Just as she was drifting off to sleep Aloy reached up to remove the focus from her ear. As her fingers brushed the smooth metal she remembered GAIA’s promise to contact her as soon as the information on Elisabet’s focus was available. She lowered her hand. Perhaps leaving it be would be best. She didn’t want to miss anything after all.

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for taking so long with this one, lifes been a bit of a mess but today i was listening to the HZD soundtrack nonstop and busted out this bad boy. Any guesses on where the story is going to go from here??


	6. Rumours from the North

>…

>…

>DATA FOUND

>UPLOAD DATA?

>DATA UPLOADING….

>UPLOAD SUCCESSFUL

>ACCESS INFORMATION: ELISABET SOBECK FOCUS?

>ENTER PASSWORD: *************

>ACCESS GRANTED

 

Dawn in Meridian was far too warm to start the day. Aloy rolled in the soft sheets and groaned. The sun could go away, she was too busy lying on a cloud. Her arms wrapped around a silky pillow and she cuddled her cheek into the cool fabric. It only took a few minutes for the newfound coolness to dissipate into sticky heat that had Aloy cracking open her eyes against the light.

In the daylight she found the room even bigger than before. Three sand coloured walls gave way to a fourth that was simply an arched window, gauzy curtains fluttering in the breeze. Through it she could see far to the north, nearly past the green forest to the sands beyond. It was as beautiful as it was peaceful, and the wrongness of it made her skin crawl. How did anybody live like this? Pretending the world wasn’t a dangerous place. Even within the walls there were still people motivated by all sorts of things to do wicked deeds.  

Aloy dressed herself quickly. At this point she could put on her armor in her sleep. Buckles and knots slid into place with practised fingers and in minutes she was ready with bow and spear strapped to her back. Her intention was to slip out of the palace quietly, stop by some of Erend’s favourite haunts to say goodbye and pass on her thanks for the room, and start heading on the path east to Nora territory. The thought was immediately dashed when she stepped outside the door and found two women blocking her path.

“Good morning, Seeker Aloy,” the one on the left said. She had dark hair and skin that shone copper in the soft sunlight.

“Good morning?” said Aloy in response.

“Sun King Avad requests that you join him for breakfast.”

It would be rude to refuse, no matter how much Aloy did not want to go to breakfast with half the court or worse. Sighing, she nodded and let the two lead her down the stone hallway of the palace. She passed others wandering the halls. Noblemen and servants scurrying around with Carja silks rustling behind them. Eventually, after several twists and turns and one long staircase Aloy was not quite gently ushered through a door and into a small room.

At first Aloy thought she must have been shown the wrong room. This room was far smaller than she imagined. There was just one small table, nearly bowing in the centre under platters and jugs. Several thick pillows were scattered around, but other than that the room was nearly empty. Nearly empty, because Avad was seated cross-legged on a pillow and sipping from a wooden cup carved with suns. He smiled as Aloy entered the room and gestured for her to sit down on a cushion.

“Will there be anything else, my King?” asked the dark haired woman.

“No, thank you,” said Avad.

The woman bowed and left, leaving Aloy alone with the Avad. Aloy continued to stand until Avad began patting the cushion next to him in earnest. With a grumble Aloy folded herself down and poked at a slice of cured meat.

“I hope you weren’t planning on leaving without at least saying goodbye,” said Avad, taking a jug and pouring a cup of juice that he then pressed into Aloy’s hands. His eyes found her armour and weapons without much effort, and Aloy didn’t even try to hide it.

“You know all of this,” Aloy waved a hand at their lavish surroundings, “makes me uncomfortable. I’d find Erend in a drinking den and tell him to say goodbye for me.”

“I’m hurt.”

Aloy shrugged and Avad smiled like he heard a fantastic joke.  For a moment there was a comfortable silence between the two as they pecked at the platters in front of them. There were small sweet bits of fried dough dipped in honey and sprinkled with raisins, fruit just ripe enough to burst into her mouth on the first bite, and slices of cured meats seasoned with spices. It was more lavish than any Nora feast Aloy had ever seen. Not that she’d seen many.

“I must confess I didn’t just call you here for breakfast,” said Avad, putting down his cup and wiping sticky fingers on a piece of fabric.

Aloy followed suit, placing her half-full cup on the table in front of her and turning to Avad. She could feel the air in the room shift. Any trace of the relaxed atmosphere from a minute ago was gone, and replacing it was sombre tension. Avad was watching her with serious eyes. His kingly face, not the friend. Aloy braced herself. For what, she wasn’t sure, but it was probably not good.

“Those many suns ago, when we defeated the evil that corrupted the machines, you did something you claimed would stop any further corruption,” Avad started.

“Yes,” said Aloy, not sure if he was looking for an explanation how or something else.

“Are you sure that it worked?”

Aloy’s brows knit in confusion. She hadn’t come across anything that indicated the corruption had continued. Sure machines were still violent towards humans unless she had overridden them, but there had been no sign of the nightmarish red energy that drove them to viciousness.

“I wouldn’t have said it if I didn’t mean it. It should be over,” said Aloy.

Avad nodded. Aloy could tell he was thinking but his face was schooled blank.

“What news have you heard that suggests otherwise?” asked Aloy when no further information was forthcoming.

“There have been strange rumours out of the Cut,” said Avad slowly, like he was trying to pick his words carefully.

“Rumours? What do these rumours say?”

“We’ve heard it more from Oseram traders, but a few Banuk have fled as well. There is something going on in the northern mountains not unlike the corruption. Machines that glow with strange energy, ready to attack anything in their path. We’ve also heard tales of new machines crawling out of a cauldron somewhere in the Cut.”

“New machines?” Aloy hoped that maybe the new machines were small things. Possibly something small and docile.

“Hunters and Shamans alike have been torn apart by something the Banuk don’t recognize. They believe it to be new machines,” Avad said as he filled his cup and took a sip. Worry knitted itself into his brow, made his fingers tighten their hold.

“Let me guess, you want me to go check it out?” asked Aloy, already knowing the answer to the question.

Avad had the grace to give her a sheepish smile.

“Fine. I’ll look into it,” said Aloy.

“I ask this of you not just because you are the best hunter in both the Sundom and the Sacred Land, but because I worry for you,” said Avad. “We all do.”

“You worry for me, because I’m the best hunter?”

“No. We worry because since we defeated Hades you have become a ghost. You avoid settlements and chase down the lingering spirits of the Old Ones in ruins.”

“I’m fine. There’s just a few more questions that need answering, that’s all.” Aloy avoided looking at his eyes.

Avad frowned, but let the subject drop. The rest of the meal passed in lighter conversation, mostly Avad telling the news from Meridian and the gossip of his nobles. Aloy sat quietly, only speaking when it was evident a response was necessary. She did manage to stuff her bag with many of the foods on the table, particularly the fruits and meats. What didn’t go into the bag went into her stomach. If she was heading to the Cut she needed sustenance for the journey.

Once done, Avad wished her luck on the hunt and let her go without any other fanfare. It was still early enough that Aloy managed to escape the city without being stopped and recognized. The Carja soldiers’ saluting her as she crossed the bridge was as much of a greeting as she got as she left.

It took many steps before her shoulders began to relax and lower from where they had been creeping up by her ears. The wilderness was always more comfortable to Aloy than any settlement. As she walked she set her course by the sun, only following roads when they suited her path. Herds of Grazers and Broadheads were welcome distractions and she spent some time shooting off components to add to her bag. She had been running low on a few machine supplies.  It was only as the sun began to sink into a glorious red and orange sunset that Aloy realized GAIA had been quiet the whole day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So mental health died over the summer and as such I've had this half-done for months. Thanks for your patience with me. I'm hoping to get back to a regular posting schedule, probably once a month, ASAP.


	7. Start of the Journey

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> GUESS WHAT? IM NOT DEAD!!
> 
> for real sorry that it took me almost 4 months to get my shit together. got distracted working 12+ hour days and losing myself in other fandoms and dnd...
> 
> also this is 100% unedited with most of it written in the middle of the night but its been so long i had to share it.

The next day dawned red as blood. Aloy was awoken by the light. All around her the world was bathed in an eerie glow. The mountains looked as if they were bleeding where the light hit their snow tipped peaks. The campfire beside her bedroll had burned low and the night chill had crept in, chilling Aloy’s fingers and toes and sneaking into her lungs with each dew-damp breath. She stretched and shivered. All her belongings remained undisturbed in the night and neither was there a trace of machines wandering near. Without too much fuss or hurry Aloy gathered her things and settled her pack onto her back.

As she set off towards the dawn she placed her Focus in its familiar spot over her ear. Still no record of contact from GAIA. Maybe whatever was on Elisabet’s Focus had corrupted GAIA and shut her down. With a hesitant hand she made the gestures necessary to contact GAIA. For one cold moment there was no answer. Then, when Aloy was about to break the connection, there was a familiar clicking noise.

“Aloy,” said the calm steady voice of GAIA.

“GAIA.”

“Query: Why did you contact me? Query: Are you alright?”

“I haven’t heard from you since I left Elisabet’s Focus at Minnerva and you ask why I’m contacting you? Where have you been?” Aloy growled at the calm in GAIA’s voice.

“My apologies. I am deciphering the information left on Elisabet Sobeck’s Focus. There is more left there than I would have thought possible. I apologize for not contacting you sooner, but I felt as if the transfer should be complete before I contacted you.”

“Great. I love being kept in the dark.”

There was a pause, but the connection didn’t fade.

“It was not my intention to hide information. Rather, I had hopes to present a complete package. I see my assumption was incorrect. I will transfer files I have recovered to you.”

“Thank you.”

“You are moving eastwards. Query: will you be gone long?”

“I’m not sure yet. Do you know anything about a Cauldron creating new machines?”

“Aloy, it has not been long since you rebooted me, and many of my sub-functions will require manual input to be brought back online. As of yet I have not been able to locate any of my sub-functions remotely through our network. Hephaestus is the sub-function that oversaw the cauldrons, perhaps if you were to go to this unstable cauldron I could override it and bring it back online.”

“Fine.”

Aloy broke the connection. “Getting me to do all the hard work. Sounds familiar.”

Grumbling, she clambered her way over the sand and rock of the Sundom. Dawns rose and nights fell as she walked. Each day GAIA contacted her, having learned that Aloy liked having the contact. Some days it was speaking of how Minnerva was beginning to emerge, others Aloy told GAIA about the people she knew and their tribes. They were never long conversations, but it was something.

At noon on the fifth day since leaving Meridian in the distance to her left rose the hill that held Free Heap, its Osseram smithies sending clouds of dark smoke into the clear air. Aloy passed it by. There was no real need to stop there, she had plenty of parts after her hunt, and though Petra and the rest of the people there were kind and welcoming in their own boisterous way Aloy felt perhaps it was best if she stayed away. It would make her trip faster to have fewer stops. 

Overhead was the heavy beat of a stormbird’s wings. Round and round it circled. It was almost a permanent fixture in the lands outside Free Heap. Aloy watched it cautiously as she passed through its territory. She wondered distantly why it stayed. The world was a lot bigger than the lands she knew, and it was big enough to fly anywhere. If ever she got close enough to override one she would ride it over the mountains to see the world.

As night began to cast its shadow Aloy could see the fires and towers of the gate at Dawn’s Sentinel. The firelight flickered off the metal of the guards’ armour and revealed them where they stood in the growing darkness. It made them look unearthly and monstrous. But Aloy had faced things truly unearthly and monstrous and had come away victorious. What might make another traveller from the Nora shiver and quake barely phased her. But then again, Aloy wasn’t really Nora. Aloy was Aloy. Aloy despite the Nora. Aloy of the Old Ones. Aloy of the Earth.

A few of the guards acknowledged her as she passed by, and Aloy returned their attention with a nod or a wave. At night they kept the gate lowered against those who might pass unseen. There was a great noise of metal scraping on metal as the gate was raised inch by slow inch by the strong arms of four guardsmen. Aloy waited, wincing as the scraping reached a high unending screech. As the gate came at last to a squealing halt Aloy quickly stepped through with a word of thanks to the guards. It was not unlike stepping into the mouth of some great creature. Where the world behind had distant lights from Free Heap and open sky, the path on the other side of the gate was dark with the mountains high and close. The sound of the gate screeching closed behind her to a final ominous thud sent a shiver down Aloy’s spine that she tried to ignore. Without looking back at the warm glow from Dawn’s Sentinel Aloy stepped back into Nora territory. The world was quiet here. No Nora patrolled these lands, or hardly ever came so far north. No machines moved in the distance. The only thing to be heard was the wind through grass and tree and the quiet noise of animals who hunted in darkness. The moon cast soft light on Aloy’s path. Enough to see by, yet also enough to lengthen the shadows.

With the moon rising overhead it was time to find a place to sleep. Aloy found a spot that would do. High in a sturdy tree she made herself a sort of hammock, triple checking her knots before climbing in. Machines wouldn’t bother her up here. They rarely looked up unless provoked into doing so. As she lay in her makeshift bed and closed her eyes she found herself unable to sleep. The moon was gentle, the night noise soothing, but those long shadows seemed to creep ever closer and the breeze brought whispers from the trees.  With a huff Aloy opened her eyes and turned on her Focus. The bright purple web was a comfort, chasing away some of the shadows and the buzz of the device in her ear hushed the strange tongue of the wind.

Aloy sifted through files aimlessly. There were the strange pieces she had picked up here and there in ruins, the collection of information about project Zero Dawn and the people involved in it, her dedicated folder to Elisabet Sobeck, her catalogue of different machines. Aloy let her mind wander as she flipped through the information. Flipping through like that, she almost missed when a new folder popped up on her Focus’ display.

**_ELISABET SOBECK FOCUS RECORDS_ **

Those four words hovered in Aloy’s gaze.

GAIA really had uploaded some of the files she had found on Elisabet’s Focus to her own. Aloy opened the folder and scanned the contents. There were journal entries and audio records, folders of holos and still coloured images.

Aloy looked at some of the coloured images. They were all of Elisabet. One was on the ranch where Aloy had found her body, only the building in the background wasn’t overrun by moss and vines, and the Elisabet that stared out at her with a grin was young, with her arms around an animal of some kind with long shaggy fur, a narrow snout, and ears that flopped down in a cute way. Another image had the curious sensation of looking into a mirror. Elisabet again stared out of the image with a smile, but it was Aloy’s face. The image was Elisabet when she was Aloy’s age with an older woman standing next to her with a proud grin. In Elisabet’s hand was a piece of paper, and on her head was an odd square hat. Seeing her own face staring back out at her was strange enough to make Aloy leave the folder of images.

The next folder she went into was the journals. These were safe, familiar. Some of the dates were familiar, ones she had found before, lingering in the ancient places Elisabet Sobeck had written them before putting them on her focus. The dates on these went far back. The earliest was marked 1-15-45, but the one at the top of the folder was 1-21-66. The last one she had was 1-17-66. With a deep breath Aloy opened the journal and read. When she was done she read it again. And then she shut off her Focus and let the night claim her senses once more. Aloy did not sleep that night and barely noticed when the world around her turned to pre-dawn grey. Instead her thoughts were with Elisabet and the world of the Old Ones in its final days.

**Sobeck Journal, 1-21-66:**

_So I lied. That last entry wasn’t the last time I’ll write my journal. This time definitely is._

_I reached the old farm a few minutes ago and sat down on what was once a lovely bench overlooking the fields. The Swarm must’ve come through here, the house is missing a wall and the once-lovely bench is half smashed. No animals left. I almost hope the atmosphere got them before the Swarm did._

_The walk here was hell. I didn’t stop except to sleep. Why would I? I have no food and only the water my suit can provide. Exhaustion doesn’t mean much when you’re walking to your death. Enough about me, I could moan and complain for months, God knows I have enough to complain about after throwing ZD together in such short time. I was never one to vent though, unless it was in a journal._

_For the record, the walk was hell because the sky was an orange-yellow haze and I passed nothing green or growing, nor saw any sign of life anywhere on my walk. Four days of being the only soul on the planet. Didn’t even see any of Ted’s machines out there. Only emptiness. Endless emptiness. What’s that saying about the abyss? Because this didn’t stare back. This couldn’t care less about my passing._

_It really is the end of the world._

_I hope the other Alphas aren’t too mad about me leaving. I know it’s a grim fate to spend their lives trapped underground in a dead world, but I hope they live long and happy lives. Hell, maybe GAIA can sort it all out quickly and they’ll have time to witness the rise of a new dawn. Some of them are still young._

_My suit keeps beeping at me. Systems failing, oxygen critical, all the fun stuff. I guess this is how I meet my end. I truly hope that ZD works. I have to believe in it. Even if my part of the story is over I want to believe that the other Alpha’s will carry it on, and that someday the world will be green again._

_So I guess this is it._

_Goodnight world, may the dawn be bright._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> y'all how could you not tell me i was spelling elisabet's name wrong the whole time i was looking at the wiki and i swear my heart stopped beating. i'm going to re-upload every chapter with her name spelled correctly on the morrow. 
> 
> Anyway, i'd like to thank each and every one of you who have read this story, those of you who have left comments, and those who leave kudos. it really is the highlight of my day when the ao3 emails saying someone left kudos or a comment pop into my inbox.

**Author's Note:**

> ok i know i've left the sun and the stars abandonned for over a month now but hey HZD popped up as a new obsession and here i am writing fic because i have too many feels about it....
> 
> And please, if you liked this, go check out Writerly's Second Dawn!!


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